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r -~;,y.._ - .. .. T ~r PhoenEx, Monday, Jan. 3, 1972 The Ari!Fa Republic 21 ~ 22-year-old heart study : ; -saved af ter U.S. fuudcut By JULIAN DeVRiEB Republic Medical Editor'. ': in 1949, the U.S. Public Health Service Instituted the Framingham Heart Study, oE- ficially called the Heart Dis- ease Epidemiology Study. Its purpose was ~~e~~l to make per- iodic physical' Spotlisht examinations of the people of Framingham, IMass., an in- dustrial community 20 miles ~west of Boston. -From a total population at '6at time of about!25,000 per- ;:sons, 5,127 were selected at <random to take part in the :atudy. All were between 30 :and 50 years ofi age. Today about 4,200 of the original participants are still alive. Theirr ages range from 50 to 79 years. Thorough autopsy examina- tions were made of the 1,000 or so persons who,died in the intervening 22 years to deterr mine if any general trends or specific factors could be re- latedi to deaths' which were attributed'to heart, disease. ; Much valuable data that could be life saving were being gained from the study when the government decided especially not when so much time, money. and effort had been expended in whatscien• tists everywhere recogniied' as an importanVand unique approach in trying to find some answers to the probiem of heart disease, still the na- tion's biggest killer. Now assistant professor of medicine at Boston University, school ob medicine, Dawber and' some of his associates in the Framingham study ber'•an looking elsewhere for funds with which to continue the project. They were suceess- f Z Part of the money that'azll keep the Framingham study alive w•ill' come from the Council for Tobacco Research - U.S.A., a New York-based organization supported by the tobacco industry. It's purpose is to sponsor research by in- devendent scientists into the effects ofismoking on health. to wield a heavy ax on its scientific spending. Thus the Framingham H e a r t Study was seheduledi to end on,luly 1, 1971i But Dr. Thomas R. Daw. ber„ the scientist who headed' the study for 16 years;,is not a man who gives up easily;. Dawber's grant Is for the study of "smoking classes;, risk factors, and cardi'ovaacu- lar diseases."' He Is one of 18 scientists who: received research grants from the Council last year;, which awarded a total of $2;353,000 during 1971. Since Its inceptiondn 1954, the coun- cil has given 426 grants total- Ing more than $20 millionj Only one federal grant Is paying for part of the study. The rest of the funds are' f r o m non-governmental sources. There have been 10 corn- plete plete phcsical examinations oG the citizens of Framing- ham ham who are participating in ` the study: Two ~ more esami- ~1 nations are planned ocer the ON •next five years. In addition to the usuall items covered in a p h y s i c a L etamihationl the Framingham, probe includes family, occupational and per- sonal histories, persnnal fac- tors and encironmental fac- tors, brdy build: and smok- ing, eating and drinking hab- its. Much valiiable Information has beem gained trom the study:. Jlere cin be e:xp ectcd ~ as it continucsc . --1 . Memo from Geonard S. Zahn A specific column~idea was suggested to this medical editor Te~on~ad r VU 9~IC-/ l.llLl4 9~IC vll:W!IJnS COUNSEI U and'AssoriatEr,inc , P..0. 80X 523 • 13'UIACOINROAD.• GAEAT NECK. N.Y. 11021.• (212) 6957+==